2012-07-20 Arthur's Summer Holiday 2012 - Part 2

Friday, 20th July, 2012. Having spent approx. ten days in Cahersiveen patiently waiting for the 'right' weather, our time has come! Circa 08.52 we depart Cahersiveen Marina and head for Bantry Bay.

This will be new cruising territory for "Arthur" and her crew....and a long time coming! This has been on my 'to-do list' for the past few years! Now it is about to happen!

The video camera is mounted on the windscreen and it is now equipped with a 32gb microSDhc card which will allow us to record video in 1280x720 format as opposed to the 720x480 resolution that we were forced to use up to now.

Only problem with recording files on the Samsung Galaxy SII is that the recording automatically stops after an hour and the 'record' button must be pressed again in order to activate the next recording. And the file sizes are HUGE. Using 720x480 resolution a one hour recording resulted in a file of approx.1gb. Using the 12808720 resolution the file size is 4gb! And I also encountered a problem in downloading the 4gb files to my Sony Vaio notebook. Problems with the file size. Anyway, the issue is now resolved but unfortunately I lost some files in the process... :-(

Heading towards Knightstown. Weather is forecast to be very good. Low swell (up to1.4m) and with low winds coming from the north which will give us a following sea. And, if my calculations have been correct, we will enjoy an incoming tide as we round Dursey Head and make our way up Bantry Bay toward Bere Island and Lawrence Cove Marina!

Knghtstown with the RNLI lifeboat at her mooring.

Approaching Dingle Bay with Cromwell Point Lighthouse in the distance.

Valentia Island on the left of photo. Skellig Islands in the distance.

A Windguru forecast for Bolus Head (just a little further south than Bray head). When we coastal cruise I spend a lot of time studying weather forecasts for our next destination. The study begins when we reach our previous destination (or perhaps even earleir!). I am a great fan of Windguru - I pay an annual subscription ( I think it is circa €20 p.a) for the 'pro' version. I check the weather forecasts each time that they are updated (four times a day, at six hourly intervals starting at midnight)f. And I screendump them so that I can review/study them later. In the case of our passage to Bantry Bay I chose to use the 'spot search' option and located a forecast for Bolus Head. Note that although Bantry Bay IS featured as one of the available options for Ireland (96 in total) it does not show wave details. The screendump above shows the forecast issued at 18:00 UTC (Reports are released six hours after the timestamp).

I had been tracking two dates for some time... Fri and Sat, 20/21st July. At first glance this report seemed to favour Sat for our passage to Bantry Bay. very low swell (0.8m - 0.6m); low winds (F1/F2) as opposed to a higher swell on the Fri (1.7m - 1.1m) and slightly higher winds, i.e. no F1.

And yes there were other factors that led me to think that Fri might be the better choice for us. Firstly, the wave direction, for both days, was westerly BUT the wind direction on Fri was decidedly northerly whereas for Sat it was mixed but predominantly south/south-west. I prefer northerly winds when heading south (and the reverse when coming back up!). Also, Tues and Wed were not as attractive and i felt that the bad weather might slip forward and edge into Sat leaving us with no cushion whereas Sat offered a cushion for the Friday.

Well you can see what has happened in the space of two days. The report above was issued at 06:00 on Friday morning. The poor weather, previously forecast for Monday/Tuesday, has slipped forward and now there is no cushion for Sat (Sun is YUK!) And the nice F1/F2 previously showing for Sat have become a mixture of F2/F3. And if you think Wed and Thurs are options check out the wave height for those days!

We had decided on Thursday night to run with Friday unless there was bad news on Friday morning. Boy was I a happy camper when I saw the Friday Windguru report at 06;00. Other positives for Friday were the virtually cloud- free day (compare with the cloud cover on Sat!). And although temperatures on Sat were slightly better the figures for Fri were not that bad at all. And the way that Saturday was evolving it was possible (with four reports to come!) that the weather might deteriorate quite significantly over the next 24 hrs and make it a non-runner.

Well, sad to say I do not have a screendump of the subsequent four reports for Bolus Head so I cannot say for certain what happened. But if you listen to the Sea Area Forecast that was broadcast on Friday morning as we cruised down toward Bantry Bay I think you can guess what happened to Satuday!

Link gives access to a Sea Area Forecast that we heard on Friday as we passaged south towards Bantry Bay.:

And note what the Sea Area Forecast says about Saturday with specific reference to the West Coast!!!

The Skelligs. We wanted to venture close to these two iconic features on the landscape (make that seascape) of the south-west coast. However, on this occasion, we are giving them a wide berth as we head south to Bantry Bay.

Note the 'Skellig Island Experience' visitor boats/RIBS at right of picture.

Link to short video clip (30 seconds) of boats/RIBS heading to Skellig Islands.

Kenmare Bay...not on our itinerary on this occasion. Next time, maybe!

Mary at the helm.

The Bull...one of a trio of 'rocks' just off Dursey Head. The other two are: The Cow and the Calf. Lighthouse and helipad are just about visible on left-hand side of the rock. View photo at larger size for greater clarity....click on photo to enlarge and then choose another size if necessary.

Looking back towards Dursey Head as we cruise towards the west entrance of Bere Island.

It is a great feeling when a passage goes according to plan. We were delighted to have got this one right: Outgoing tide when departing Cahersiveen; took advantage of 'tidal streams' (cannot remember the term on the video clip :-( ); northerly wind as we came down the coast; incoming tide as we enter Bantry Bay; calm sea (low swell and winds).

The west entrance of Bere Island in middle of photo with Ardnakinna lighthouse (to right) just about visible.

Looking astern at Bantry Bay

The west entrance to Bere Island with Castletownbere in the distance.

Ardnakinna Lighthouse at the west entrance to Bere Island

Castletownbere. Two ferry services connect Bere Island with the mainland. The ferry operating from the west side of Bere Island disembarks its passengers in the heart of Castletownbere. Unfortunately the ferry operating from the East side of Bere Island deposist its passengers a couple of kilometres OUTSIDE Castletownbere. In that context it is unfortunate that Lawrence Cove Marina is located at the east side of Bere Island.

Heading around Bere Island towards Lawrence Cove Marina which is located on the east side of the island.

A short (2mins 33secs) video clip covers the approach and entry to Bere Haven:

The entrance to Lawrence Cove Marina. And so, after a 7 and 1/2 hour passage we are about to arrive at our destination. Many thanks to Noel Griffin for providing routes and tracks whch were very helpful on this passage.

Gangway from main pontoon at Lawrence Cove Marina. Service block and craft shop in background.

Main pontoon at Lawrence Cove Marina.

Lawrence Cove Marina.

Lawrence Cove Marina. "Arthur", with blue canopy, can be seen behind the gangway.

Phil Harrington who runs Lawrence Cove Marina ably assisted by her son Patrick and his wife Rachel.

Phil, outside her office and craft shop.

Hungry Hill, which overlooks Lawrence Cove Marina.

Thursday, 26th July, 2012. Phil Harrington (and others) had suggested that we undertake a passage to Glengarriff. Initially I agreed and then as we prepared to get underway I noticed what I considered to be heavy fog hanging over Hungry Hill. I demurred...until Phil, who upon returning from a lunch-break noticed that we had not departed and responded to my query re the fog by suggesting that it would lift! We heeded her 'local knowledge' and duly headed off circa 14.30hrs. And boy was she right on all counts!

Roancarrig Lighthouse on Bere Island.

Circa 15:00hrs...Looking back on Bantry Bay. Bere Island on the right of picture. And the fog has already lifted!

Circa 15.45hrs...Still looking back on Bantry Bay. Bere Island on the right of picture.

Circa 16:15hrs...Approaching Glengarriff Bay after just under 2hrs cruising time from Lawrence Cove Marina.